Battle Blasters [App Store], the first release from developers Little Guy Games, is a one-on-one, top-down action shooter tuned for multiplayer. While plenty of good things can be said about the single player, the real potential for this game lies in the (local-only for now) multiplayer.
Combat in Battle Blasters is controlled using a variety of on-screen taps and swipes. The battlers can only move on a horizontal plane to dodge attacks; a simple touch on the bottom area of the screen will lead your fighter out of danger’s way, and a swipe in the area above your character will cause him/her to attack. A fast swipe away from the selected fighter will send out a quick attack in the form of some sort of laser beam and a slow swipe will send out a slower, more powerful attack that has the power to stop enemy beams in mid-flight. Swiping down will cause your battler to reflect nearly any attack, a technique that will prove itself to be extremely useful for turning the tide on an overly aggresive opponent.
There are six different characters to choose from in Battle Blasters, and each one has a special ability (along with unique attributes in movement speed, attack power, and defensive categories) which can be activated in battle by simply tapping the character. Jerett, the initially unlocked character, has the ability to quickly fire destructive rockets, Maya can absorb enemy attacks to add to her total ammo capacity, and Animus can fire difficult-to-stop dual cannon shots, to name only a few.
The special powers force players to adapt their play style in significant ways depending on who they’re facing. This is all done in a way that manages to avoid unbalancing the game or making some characters inherently better than others. Some characters, especially Maya and End, require a little extra patience to fully grasp, but I feel that they too could be highly effective in the hands of an experienced player.
I’ve always heard fans of fighting games talk about how the greatest reason for their love of the genre is the level of total connection with a character that players get once the game has been mastered. Avid Street Fighter players speak about a certain point after memorizing every character’s moveset where everything becomes all one giant mindgame with an opponent. When two players have total control and knowledge of how to pull off any move in a fighting game, the game evolves into something much more complex than a simple button-masher that it may appear to be to the uninitiated.
Personally, I’m not a big fan of fighting games, but as I played and eventually conquered Battle Blasters, I began to finally understand what those fighting game fanatics were raving on about. Just as with fighting games, Battle Blasters contains a hidden level of strategic depth that, once discovered, really changes the nature of the game. Instead of simply blasting away with what seems like a good combination of strong and weak attacks, players will begin to be able to foresee potential combo opportunities and draw out weaknesses in an enemy’s defenses by throwing off their game with unexpected and creative techniques, effectively using mind games on their opponents.
Battle Blasters does feature same-device simultaneous multiplayer, but that doesn’t work so well due to the physical constraints of playing on a single 3.5" screen. So, where the game would shine would be the inclusion of online multi-player — a feature that is said to be planned for a future update.
In the meanwhile, it’s still worth picking up now to enjoy the single player (because it’s totally a blast), and hone those skills for the fateful day that online does arrive. Until then, I’ll enjoy smack-talking our forum goers in the game’s official thread without ever needing to back up my claims, and all competition will have to be limited to the included online leaderboards.
App Store Link: Battle Blasters, $2.99
Okay, so it's a Gran Turismo clone, but as GT on the PSP was so poor, this may have some merit. The logo though, FFS Gameloft, you are very lucky not to have been sued.
I know, "GT Racing"? Seriously?
Gameloft FTW!
As long as I can drive around Laguna Seca and Nurebulberingububling or whatever it's called, (you know, that really long race track?)
Its called Nurburgring ;)
Nürnburgring
Nürburgring
No "n".
I hope this gets to be released this month, so far aside from some minor indie games , a good game is yet to be released for january.
Cogs? Plants versus Zombies?
???
I have no clue why you posted that. Neither game has been released yet...
Song Summoner is in the App Store.
That's sure as hell not a bad game, and not an indie game.
Are they released already? And Plants vs zombies? I hate the pc version.
Hmmm, looks good. And I'm looking for a new racer since NFS:U is getting a bit old now. And NFS:S covered all the cars in those god awful racing decals.
The content and graphics seem great. It looks inspired not only by Gran Turismo but also NFS and some Colin McRae Rally.
The thing that bothers me is the direction. Did you see in the video (near 0:30) how the steering wheel didn't look smooth at all ? I hope it's just how it looks and not how it feels...
Real Racing handles it perfectly, and I hope GT will do too, because tilt driving is just painful...
sounds awesome even if it looks pretty similar to the psp gran turismo. i've greatly enjoyed that game in the past month look forward to get this one on my iphone :)
Difference being that Gran Turismo for the PSP has no progression & no career. Therefore, it could not maintain my interest. I need at least some level of focus in my games and Gran Turismo has none. GT will be different in that regard at least.
i hope Gameloft improved the game since the last gameplay vid
especially the cockpit view,it looks crap
the game looks cool on the screenshots but on the vid it's not that good....
Yeah, they have to fix the cockpit view. The steering wheel snapping back to zero all the time looks terrible, and the camera is just too high up. Looks like the car is floating above all the other cars.
Game Looks Fantastic. It looks like it has the potential to be better than Real Racing which is still my favorite Iphone racer. Gameloft just keeps knocking em out the PARK.
you're not a gameloft employee are you?
nothing about this looks obviously better than Real Racing - especially the graphics - and I don't see how the controls could be any better as Firemint nailed it with Real Racing
I'm not saying this won't be good - but I'll be amazed if Real Racing is toppled as best race app
I agree. Real Racing is still the one to beat and even if GT Racing seems promising it also seems less polished in some ways; I just do not see the same attention to detail in it. Having said that, the variety of racing tracks and weather conditions is somewhat compelling.
I wonder how this will run on my old 3G. I tied the demo of the latest Gameloft Burn-Out copy and the frame rate was far too low to be playable.
I've played a lot of Real Racing on my iPhone, and part of the appeal of that title is the 30fps update. (plus the nice controls of course)
Interesting. I have a 3G, and I'm having a lot of fun with Asphalt 5. there is some choppiness here and there, but nothing that affects gameplay - especially after the latest update. Perhaps the demo runs slower?
Gotta disagree with you there. I have a Touch 3G, and find that sometimes the choppy framerate IS distracting.
This game looks good but we'll have to see what the release is really like.
looks like Asphalt 5. Even if the controls will be far far better I wouldn't buy this similar to Asphalt 5 looking "Asphalt 6". Sorry Gameloft, its time for something new (not only steal graphics from older games)!
I don't think the graphics of the car in the first screen shot is going to be the way the car really looks on the final product. If you look at the first screen shot Eli posted of the Audi and then the competitors car in the same shot, the graphics look gamelofty (I.E. Asphlat 5 minus all the blur effect).
I hope you can actually drive like Real Racing
Amen brother. What a let down NFS:S was (for me).
At least from the video, this one feels faster (frame rate) than the previous gameloft games, so what I'm hoping for is for a game with good graphics, taking the sense of speed to new heights ... we already have enough relatively good racing games with average fps .... I think there's a lack of FAST racing games that perform FAST on iPhone 3G and maybe even of 2G.
Um.. No.. Shift is the exact same pretend driving (ie. on-rails)
EA should have bought the Real Racing code, added real cars, and jazzed it up with a storyline, etc.
Most Wanted on PSP was a great translation, why can't we have something like that for our platform?
Less than 1% of Ferrari F430's were sold with a standard manual transmission (the rest had paddle shifters on the steering column). I therefore find it quite humorous that in the cockpit view the driver keeps taking his right hand off the wheel to shift.
Nonetheless, I'll buy this as soon as it comes out. I really want some real world tracks, and there was no mistaking both Monaco and the Laguna Seca corkscrew in that video. I hope there are even more real tracks in the game.
Bullshit
What is it on 3rd small picture? Blue car is covering yellow one! Photoshop?
The racing game I've been waiting for. Sure its not Gran Turismo but i have a feeling it will do it's justice on the iTouch. The pics look very polished! Pretty much an insta buy on my end. I do hope the controls aren't clunky.
Ridge Racer Accelerated grew on me and I will keep it because the updates seem to be coming in slowly and the bettering of the game shows.
Looks very good. However, word of advice. If you are going for the realistic, which it seems and its what I like, the cars seem to bank or tilt to much to the sides while cornering. In real life sport cars like the ones to be included do not bank as much. The video makes a Ferrari move like a cheap entry level car. I am sure that the car will not handle that way. Just think about it... I hope I helped.
You know what I want to see... A game like this with Jet Car Stunts controls and handling, which are the best IMO - now that game would blow all the other car games into nothing.
meh I really don't like gameloft racing games. they're weird, don't like the physics.
Man why does everyone say its worse than real racing? Real racing is a very nice game, but it doesnt have that many cars or tracks. They say that it has 48 cars, but they just made 2 models per class and repainted them! And the graphics are WAY worse than this. Okay the in car view is pretty bad. But the 3d modelling and shaders are way better here. Not to mention the sound.. And yes gameloft shouldnt copy thing so much from other games.
BTW, yet another missed opportunity by Sega, the 800 lb. gorilla in the room that seems content sticking their finger in the butt and sniffing it instead of actually doing something.
Sega GT, anyone? I mean...seriously now.... Not only does Sega have a "simulation" racing IP, but every single dev studio at Sega JP has made great racing games. And, oh yeah...they've also got more extensive knowledge than any other developer on the planet making PowerVR GPUs shine. Sega used earlier PowerVR GPUs in Dreamcast, and their NAOMI arcade boards. Hell, their Aurora arcade board uses a full fledged MBX version - iPhone/touch 1st and 2nd "gens" use MBX-lite, btw. Still no Sega developed racer, however.
@ nfs:s tokyo.
I didnt do that race and still finished world tour. You can go further. I now own the bmw. And i find that game better than real racing. Real racing disappointed me, because of the lack of REALLY different cars. 8 types of cars come on! Ok 9 with gti
Damn, if the graphics are as crap as Asphalt then it'll be a major letdown in that sense. Asphalt is praised for its graphics, when i actually find them quite horrid. Read Racing, on the other hand, has much more realistic lighting and reflections. All at a much higher framerate. Real Racing may not be packed with variety, but it's quality is unmatched by games (other than Jet Car Stunts, which has the BEST graphics on the platform(s)).
what's up with you people! It's all about the cockpit view!
I love the Cockpit view in NFS:S. It just feels and looks so right on the iPhone's tilting controls. Those of you who played Shift and complain about on rails, I hope you changed your setting from Rookie to at least Professional. It's an outstanding game. The quality and polish ain't something you'll find in any other game.
trackback: http://www.revjuegosiphone....
NFS:S was a big let down from the graphics to the framerate. It's not a surprise that Real Racing is more popular with Iphone users.
Laguna Seca!!!! My local track(well its world famous) saw that double corkscrew and got excited.
Hopefully they'll have a miata which i can supercharge like mine(a track driving sim is not complete without the miata).
The graphics and physics in the video look downright bad. Next.
Lol
gameloft are so rip off'ers, but i can't do nothing but love theire games!!
I feel it's sad about Joaquin Phoenix. He was/is a fantastic actor, but he seems to have just got a little loose upstairs.